Steps to Membership

Thanks for visiting our Steps to Membership page. If you found yourself here it’s quite possible that you are curious about membership and may be contemplating joining First Baptist.

First of all you need to have a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ, having confessed Him as your Lord and Savior (recognizing that your sin of rebellion is what has separated you from Him), and believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The Bible clearly states in Matthew 3:8 that we are to “bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance” and part of that expression of fruit is being baptized by immersion.

Preparation – Pastoral Interview – Prayer

Preparation

How does one become a member of First Baptist Church?

We encourage anyone who is interested in membership at First Baptist Church to go through a New Members’ Discovery Class. This class is usually held on a Sunday afternoon from 4:00 to 6:30pm and covers topics such as The History of First Baptist, our denominational roots and our own local church history, corporate membership, how to become a member, the responsibilities of a member, baptism, and our corporate church vision.

Pastoral Interview

Once the New Members’ Discovery Class is completed a new members interview with one of the pastoral staff is conducted. It’s important to the staff to know who we are shepherding spiritually and this is also a time that helps establish a deepening friendship between pastoral staff and potential members.

Prayer

We would ask that you personally pray about your involvement as a member here at First Baptist. 1 Corinthians 12:18 states, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” If God has gone to great lengths to place individual members within a local body, we as a church should take that placement seriously.

Final Steps

Once the above criteria have been fulfilled the next step is to make your intention known at one of our worship celebrations by coming forward at the close of worship and presenting your completed membership card. Lead Pastor David Stanley will bring the recommendation for membership to the entire church body, a congregational vote will be taken, and you will be welcomed into your new church family!